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Hasuko Maru
Hasuko Maru is probably the strangest Overlord operating within Paradigm City. He has earned his position, and his reputation, by being utterly creepy; always wearing a sly smile as if he knows something you don't, and battling with an arsenal of magic, card tricks, prestidigitation, and toys. In Darkness Falls there is no other Overlord that is as frightening as this strange clown-like character. Maru came from humble beginnings, slithering his way to control of an entire district through a perfect cocktail of misdirection, deception, and manipulation; traits that define Maru to a tee. Origin Hasuko Maru was born in The Mesa district of Darkness Falls, the second of two children to surgeon Tijiho Maru and his family practitioner wife, Allison. The Marus' were very strict parents, with the mother being almost wholly subservient to her husband and backing every choice he made regarding the two children Hasuko and Niniji. The parents decided early on that both of their children would carry on the family tradition of service in the medical field and while Niniji acquiesced and began to prepare herself for a life as a doctor, young Hasuko chose an entirely different path. As a teenage Hasuko became fascinated with prestidigitation, stage magic, and began following the careers of the great masters such as Henning, Copperfield, and Blake. He decided that he, too, would become a stage performer and began devoting all of his free time to the pursuit of his dream which, as one might expect, caused a tremendous clash of wills between father and son that ultimately opened a rift of discordance and mutual dislike that would never be mended. Hasuko left home at the age of fifteen, working menial jobs where he could find them in comedy and magic clubs throughout Darkness Falls. He finally settled in Fusion, where he made a serious effort at becoming a stage magician. Despite his incredible talent, he bombed. Devastated, Maru gave up the idea of becoming a stage magician and applied himself to the study of psychology. In order to pay for his schooling he fell in with the Circus of Sorrows and there found an even greater calling that prestidigitation. As a Circus Juggler he was able to employ his magic tricks with his knowledge of psychology to make himself stand out, and rise slowly through the ranks until he gained the coveted position of Seneschal. As such he came to the direct attention of Parasol, and the two became bosom companions. Maru became Parasol's magical apprentice, learning the true arcane arts at the feet of his diminutive companion. In the ten years he spent by her side as friend, servant, and apprentice he displayed a remarkable talent for each role. When he turned thirty years of age Parasol, as a reward for his unfailing loyalty and companionship, gave him a large contingency of Circus performers of his own and named him the Overlord of The Fusion District of Darkness Falls. The area has never been the same since. Maru, The Overlord "Allow me to educate you. Illusion is trickery. It's deception. It's fooling the audience into thinking you're performing supernatural feats. It's an act. But Magicians? We do it for real." Terrifying. Insane. Horrific. Three words that are often used to describe Hasuko Maru. He presents as a frightening figure indeed, always dressed as a clown with white greasepaint on his face, hair dyed a shockingly bright pink, and a smile that is so prevalent it almost seems as if his lips are permanently affixed in that position. His voice is soft and soothing, almost feminine; but always carries with it a tinge of malice. Hasuko Maru is one of the more formidable magic-users in Darkness Falls, possessing a wide arsenal of magical abilities. He has been observed to throw bolts of arcane energy, cast a variety of containment and restraint spells, transform people into harmless animals, and use mystic energy to fly, teleport, and deflect magical attacks. For the most part, though, Maru prefers utilizing his mystic artistry for generating all manner of illusions which can affect all of the senses and have worldy effects; meaning that entire crowds can witness the illusions he creates. In addition to being a true magician the overlord is a master of prestidigitation. He can perform endless amounts of slight of hand tricks, mimic voices and other sounds perfectly, and forge signatures that require an expert to differentiate. He is also an educated and certified psychologist. He is very knowledgeable about a wide variety of mental illnesses and personality disorders as well as the standard mandatory skills taught at all medical schools; he can deliver babies, perform immediate lifesaving techniques, and set broken bones. He uses his psychology training to really dig deep into an enemy's mind; it doesn't take him very long to assess a victim or enemy's fears and insecurities which he then uses as a weapon against them. As the Overlord of the Fusion district of Darkness Falls Hasuko Maru has been given total and complete control of and authority over the street gang originally conceived of and organized by Parasol, The Circus of Sorrows. Though of course Maru wouldn't dream of refusing Parasol access to the gang or control of it Parasol allows him to operate it largely autonomously. The Circus acts largely has Maru's foot soldiers, always being the first wave of attackers he sends in against superheroes, law enforcement, and other 'nosy' types. Hasuko Maru gets along very well with a number of Paradigm City's Overlords. He is on relatively friendly terms with Black Paladin, is very close friends with Parasol, and gets along quite well with Mastermind, Vile, Entropy, Trick Hand, and Scarecrow. The Troupe In the Circus of Sorrows gang there are four meta-human criminals that have been appointed by Hasuko Maru to act as the leaders pro tem and generals in his absence. Each of these villains have been long-time members of the Circus. None of them like Maru very much but follow his instructions not necessarily because they think they might know what Meru would do if they refused but because they know what Parasol would do to them if they showed Maru any disrespect. '''Ringleader '''is in charge of the Circus as a whole, answering directly to Maru. Miguel Alvarez joined the Circus at a very young age; he is such a long-time member that he's been with the gang almost since its inception. He is jealous of Maru, having utterly convinced himself that it is he, and not the evil clown, that should have been named Fusion's Overlord. Ringleader appears as a stereotypical circus ringleader, with puffy riding pants, shiny black boots, a long red coat, and a top hat. He is a mentalist, capable of grabbing control of a foe's mind and forcing them to do whatever he demands of them provided such commands aren't contrary to someone's nature. As an example, he couldn't mind control a hero to murder someone if they weren't already inclined to be a murder; but he can easily command a bank robber to commit a series of bank robberies. '''Liontamer '''has been identified as Jeffery Mitoko, the son of an Olympic Industries engineer. As Liontamer Mitoko wears a lightweight and flexible suit of power armor that amplifies his strength to super-human levels amd provides enough resistance to damage that he can withstand heavy firepower. The suit is equipped with two vibranium cables that can each be extended out to a maximum length of twenty feet. Liontamer has trained himself to fight like a boss with these cables and can use them to whip and slash foes, trip them up, disarm them of weapons, and even as a mode of transportation by using them as swinging cables. The cables come equipped with a secondary attack mode. By wrapping a foe in the cables, or two foes in a cable each, he is then able to send a 300,000 volt charge down the lines which is fatal to normal people. The helmet of Liontamer's suit has polarized lens to protect him from sudden visual flash attacks and filters out gasses. '''Trapeze '''has yet to be identified by her civilian name. She is a beautiful young woman known for never speaking while on the battlefield. She is a master of the martial art of Kembo, which mixes karate and king-fu to allow her to disable her foes with front strikes, palm attacks, knife-edged hands, roundhouse kicks, crescent kicks, axe kicks, choke holds, arm holds, joint locks, and bone breaking strikes. As deadly as she is with hand to hand combat she's even more dangerous at range. A master of shurikenjutsu, Trapeze can turn any small object into a deadly projectile. She has killed her enemies with playing cards, shuriken, throwing knives, ballpoint pens, and once even wih a DVD remote control. Many consider Trapese to be the deadliest boss of the Circus of Sorrows.